


Fishing in fire

by bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb



Series: Pyro, the man who creates legends [6]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Gen, shippers don't interact, this popped into my brain and demanded to be written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24849205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb/pseuds/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
Summary: Discontinued
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Pyro, the man who creates legends [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757236
Comments: 8
Kudos: 39





	Fishing in fire

**Author's Note:**

Another day, another Capitol party.

Pyro and the rest of floor 5 stand by the elevator.

The 3 kids of floor 6 stand in a small circle, with Noah and Carson standing closer together.

Pyro doesn't miss the hurt on Cooper's face.

"Well, that party wasn't that fun," Niki says, and it's the wrong thing to say.

Cooper's face is filled with rage.

"Oh, the party wasn't fun? Oh, I'm so sorry that I wasn't entertaining enough."

Pyro knows that this isn't going to end well.

"How about you lay off of my kid, Cooper?" Pyro steps forward, allowing Niki to hide behind him if she wants.

Cooper looks at him and disgust and hate is visible in every line of his face.

"Your kid? She isn't your kid."

"Cooper, I don't want you to get in trouble. You gotta be quiet."

The second part of what he says is drowned out by Cooper's yells.

"Why? You don't care about me, you don't care about any of us!"

"That's not true," Pyro whispers. But Cooper does not care.

"You are a horrible person! You send kids to die every year!"

A Peacekeeper is approaching and Pyro knows what he must do.

"Dope," he says to Cooper.

He walks over to the Peacekeeper and decks him.

"Shit!" Josh says.

"Hey, Niall, next time you do this shit, let me know, I wanna watch!" A man in a Hawaiian shirt, holding a coconut with a pink swirly straw, walks forward and the boys from floor 6 are envious of how everyone parts for him.

It's clear to Carson that this is someone who held unimaginable power, who has been stripped of it, and who has shaped the course of history.

It's clear to Noah that this man has power over floor 5 because they part before him like he is a god and they are his worshippers; but it is clear that this god is slumbering and cannot use its full power.

It's clear to Cooper that this man has deadly power, and he wields it with expertise, and something in the way that he smiles, in the way that he breathes, something in his eyes reminds Cooper of Pyrocynical and he prepares to fight another devil.

"Oh, sorry Rajj, I didn't know that every time I deck someone, I have to summon you like a fucking demon." Pyro huffs.

Rajj hums in response 

"You get 150 points for that one, Niall," Rajj says.

Pyro looks up from the table. "Come on, Austin, I think I deserve more than that. I knocked him out in one punch. I broke his jaw!"

"Yeah, but you didn't break a rib when you kicked him."

"Yeah but I at least got him some bruises."

"Fine, you get 175." Rajj rolled his eyes.

Rajj slurps obnoxiously from his coconut.

"Hey, is that a taser in your pocket or are you happy to see me?"

Rajj can hear the smile in Pyro's voice.

"Oh, it is a taser!"

He hears Niall, or Pyro, rather, get shocked.

"It's always a taser, Niall. You never fucking learn, man, never learn." Rajj shakes his head.

"You're a little piss boy, Austin," Pyro shouts over his shoulder, as he is shoved into the elevator.

"What was that all about, Rajj?" Niki asks.

"It happens when you're a presenter. Victors get mad as shit to you and you gotta fucking redirect it."

He takes a sip of his drink.

"Clobbering a Peacekeeper is the best distraction. Validates what the Victor says about you and takes attention away from it by providing a bigger threat."

Another Peacekeeper starts coming over and Rajj turns to the floor 6 trio.

"Follow my lead, okay?"

He doesn't wait for a response, just turns to the incoming Peacekeepers and some figure that Cooper doesn't recognize.

Rajj smiles lazily at them and something shifts.

What had been buried, what had been slumbering, has been awoken.

They can see it in the sharpness of his smile, the way that his slumped posture seems to ooze confidence instead of sleepiness.

Rajj and Pyro are two sides of the same coin, sitting on a pile of gold, hidden in a vault.

"Heya, Ricky. How's it hangin'?"

"How's it hanging? A Victor just yelled at a current Presenter in front of Capitol citizens! That's how it's hanging!" Ricky hisses.

"Oh, they're too drunk to remember. And besides, Pyro was saying some shit to Cooper before. I mean a kid can only take so much."

Ricky's face shifts. "Oh god, what did he say this time?" Ricky turns to look at Cooper, who looks shocked.

"Don't make the kid think about it again man. It was heavy shit." Rajj looks at Cooper and prays that the boy can play into it.

Cooper sniffles and looks down.

"I was nearby, I heard him." And now Rajj is in his zone. Him and Pyro have the same gift. Reality bends to their will when they demand of it.

"I mean, you'd think he'd have more tact." Rajj shakes his head.

"Pyro was telling Cooper how Cooper winning lost him a bunch of money." He puts on a mocking accent. "'Pity you didn't die, you cost me a lot of money.'"

Rajj laughs. "Cooper lost me money too. Could've gotten a better score. But Pyro was ripping into him, saying some tough shit."

He pauses again. "Of course, that's only child's play."

"Everyone knows that you bet more than money on the Games."

The words have their intended impact.

After Ricky walks away, Rajj, who had been wound into a coil, slumps into his skin, like a puppet cut loose from its strings.

But who is the puppeteer?

And what is the show?

Rajj has lost his energy, blood no longer made of gasoline, his eyes no longer sparking with electric driven lies.

He is no longer the vengeful Capitol influencer who was ready for blood. He is a man with greying hair, wearing a colorful shirt, and playing up some bit with the coconut.

He looks like a man half-forgotten and half-dead.

Is that what's going to happen to all of them?

Rajj walks off with a cheery goodbye and Carson feels like he should be mourning. 

Every time Carson can, he asks about Rajj.

Sometimes he can see Rajj.

And he's almost always with Pyro.

This year Carson catches them whispering in a corner. Pyro has a little notebook and a pencil and he's tapping the eraser against his chin.

Rajj spots Carson first. He points and Pyro turns to see.

Rajj looks panicked but Pyro relaxes at seeing Carson.

He beckons Carson over, and Carson feels compelled to go. Pyro tucks the notebook away in his suit.

"He's good, dude. He isn't a snitch. He ain't gonna tell anyone." Pyro looks at Carson and Carson can see the moment Pyro looks at him and evaluates a threat. "And if he is, we can take care of it."

Pyro's voice is cold and unyielding and it is ice coating Carson's heart.

Then he looks at Rajj and Carson sees the relief in Rajj's face.

"We always take care of it." Pyro looks expectantly at Rajj, waiting for... something.

"And we always take care of them," Rajj says and Carson feels like he's walked in on something bigger than himself.

It's clear this is what Pyro was looking for.

"Rajj, aren't you next up for Phil?" It's a blatant lie, but the kid doesn't know that.

It's just Pyro and Carson now.

They are quiet and Carson's mind burns with unsaid words.

"You're coming up on the end of your decade," Pyro says evenly. His eyes flick to Carson's and Carson looks away because he doesn't want Pyro staring into his soul the way he did six years before.

Carson shrugs. "I've got like 4 years left."

"Yeah, so end of your decade."

Pyro's still staring at him, and Carson doesn't know what he wants, and Carson nods at him.

"Next year for your birthday, I got a gift for you. It's part of a tradition that's been with us since the beginning." He locks eyes with Carson. "Do you understand? Since the beginning."

Carson nods, because what else can he do?

"It's a guide to the Capitol, well it's really more of a book. Every decade starter has found it helpful." Pyro chuckles and Carson feels that undercurrent of something bigger than he knows is happening. "You'll see when you get it."

Carson doesn't know what to say. "I look forward to it."

It isn't a lie and it isn't the truth.

~~_Let the old god sleep, for the new is dying and the next has yet to be born. The church will go on without them._ ~~

**Author's Note:**

> Hope ya'll enjoy and stay safe!!


End file.
